Likud vote shakes Sharon coalition

By Ross DunnMay 14 2002

Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon faces a testing period to keep his government intact and to maintain hopes for a new Middle East peace strategy after his party rejected the creation of a Palestinian state.

The vote at a raucous meeting of the Likud central committee was really about who will lead the nation after the next election. But its effects in the region could be far-reaching.

The results of Mr Sharon's humiliating defeat, in a contest with his main rival, former prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu, are already beginning to be felt.

Within hours of the adoption of the resolution stating that "no Palestinian state will be established west of the Jordan River", which was pushed by Mr Netanyahu's supporters, some of Mr Sharon's coalition partners began to voice their dissent about the government's policy direction.

One of the first to speak out was left-leaning Labour cabinet minister Ephraim Sneh, who warned that his party would leave the government if Mr Sharon was forced to adopt the policies of Mr Netanyahu.");document.write("

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"One thing must be clear," Mr Sneh said. "If this line of Netanyahu's is the one that guides the government, we won't be a part of it for even a minute."

Mr Sneh said that Mr Sharon faced a fateful decision. "The majority of the public - not the majority of the Likud central committee - understands that in the end, under a peace agreement, there will be a Palestinian state . . . But if the government's policy is dictated by Netanyahu's 60 per cent of the central committee, than we have nothing to talk about."

The result was highly embarrassing for Mr Sharon, who defied his party by declaring at least twice last year that he would support a Palestinian state, once hostilities had ended.

The decision could raise doubts in the White House about Mr Sharon's long-term future, with the Likud showing early signs that it may choose Mr Netanyahu as its candidate for the national elections next May.

Asked about the vote, seen as a blow to peace hopes, US National Security Council spokesman Sean McCormack said President George Bush was committed to the establishment of a Palestinian state.

The decision also damages Mr Sharon's prospects of promoting a strategy for peace at a summit of Middle East leaders proposed for June. He has been promoting a multilateral approach - a forum of Middle East leaders meeting regularly to resolve their differences.

Mr Netanyahu argued that Israel should only support Palestinian self-rule, never an independent state.

For the first time since December, Mr Arafat left Ramallah yesterday and flew to Bethlehem. He went straight to the Church of the Nativity, where Palestinian militants and civilians were besieged by the Israeli army for five weeks in a standoff that ended last Friday.